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As the government is expected to announce a frequency reassignment plan soon, there is growing interest in whether it will decide to terminate 3G (third generation mobile communication) early. Mobile carriers argue that operating the 3G service, which has a user ratio of less than 1%, is more harmful than beneficial. However, the government maintains a cautious stance on terminating the service, stating that user damage must be minimized.

◇ The telecommunications industry says, 'Using 3G frequencies for 5G would be advantageous'

According to the government and the industry on the 23rd, the Ministry of Science and ICT is expected to finalize the allocation fees, widths, and periods for a total of 370㎒ of 3G and LTE (fourth generation mobile communication) frequencies by the end of this year. Accordingly, the government is expected to announce the frequency reassignment plan and details by the end of this month. Under current broadcasting law, operators must inform users one year in advance if they do not reassign frequencies or change conditions. Additionally, operators must apply for reassignment six months before the end of the usage period.

According to current law, frequencies are national assets, and operators such as mobile carriers are allocated frequencies from the Ministry of Science and ICT for a certain period. When the government announces an auction, the carriers participate in bidding, and the highest bidder secures the allocation rights. The total winning bid for the 5G frequency auction in May 2018 reached 3.6183 trillion won. The total allocation fee for the 290㎒ wide 3G and LTE frequency reassignment in 2020 was recorded at 3.17 trillion won.

Currently, KT and SK Telecom are known to wish for the early termination of the 3G service. Initially, the frequency allocation period was set to be until December 2026, but they are pushing to expedite the termination date. This is because the less-utilized 3G frequencies can be used for 5G frequencies.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT's 'Status of wired and wireless communication service subscriptions,' as of the end of December last year, the number of 3G subscribers was recorded at 535,442, accounting for 0.9% of all mobile communication lines. Currently, SK Telecom and KT are using 10㎒ of 3G frequencies in the 2.1㎓ band. LG Uplus does not operate a 3G service.

The Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA) noted, 'Most major countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are transitioning their 3G networks to next-generation networks for enhancing efficiency, and early termination of 3G is essential for our country as well.'

◇ The government says, 'User damage must be minimized and compensation measures must be prepared.'

The Ministry of Science and ICT is cautious about early termination of 3G, stating that user damage must be minimized. The government is expected to make a decision on whether to terminate the 3G business based on past cases of early termination of 2G (second generation mobile communication). The decision for early termination of 2G services was made when the number of users was in the hundreds of thousands, and it took 9 years until all three telecommunications companies exited the business. KT was the first to apply for closure in 2012, followed by SK Telecom in 2020 and LG Uplus in 2021. The service was completely terminated when only about 20,000 to 30,000 users remained.

A Ministry of Science and ICT official explained, 'For the case of 3G services, there must be a minimal number of users remaining and compensation measures must be prepared before we can decide on early termination.'

Previously, SK Telecom proposed compensation measures while winding down its 2G business, including device purchase support of 300,000 won, a 10,000 won discount on monthly fees for 24 months, and a 70% discount on monthly fees for 24 months. KT offered a discount of 6,000 won per month for 2 years for 2G users transitioning to its 3G service and also waived remaining installment payments and USIM replacement costs.

Abroad, there is already a trend of phasing out 3G operations. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile in the United States, and Deutsche Telekom in Europe ended their 3G operations in 2021. KDDI and SoftBank in Japan discontinued their 3G services in 2022. NTT Docomo is also reportedly planning to gradually terminate services by next year.